Michy Batshuayi was surprisingly in the Frankfurt starting lineup in Gladbach – and couldn’t really make his mark on the game. Coach Dino Toppmöller spoke about the Belgian after the final whistle.
Eintracht Frankfurt is still unbeaten in the new year, but has only drawn three consecutive league games recently. After the 1-1 draw in Gladbach, Dino Toppmöller admitted on Sky that he therefore had “mixed feelings”. Looking ahead to the game at Borussia, he criticized the phase between the tenth and 30th minute, in which “we weren’t there at all”.
But he also said that the team had come back well against a strong Gladbach. “Our goal gave us our confidence back and then we played a really good away game,” said Toppmöller, who also regretted that it wasn’t enough. “If you look at the statistics, we should have won the game in the second half. We didn’t.”
Toppmöller’s plan didn’t quite work out
The surprising thing was the fact that newcomer Michy Batshuayi was in the starting line-up. Before the kick-off, Toppmöller had said that the Belgian was “physically in very good condition” and could play “60 to 70 minutes”. It was 57 minutes in the end – and his record is mixed. 20 touches, one assist and a tackle rate of 43 percent.
“We went for Michy because we knew that Gladbach would be pressing high up the pitch,” said Toppmöller, explaining his decision. However, this plan did not quite work out. ‘I would have liked him to have kept hold of the ball a bit better to get better control. We didn’t quite manage that.’
Batshuayi’s special role
Batshuayi is to fulfill the role of target man at the club from Hesse – something that, according to the 44-year-old coach, Eintracht “has been lacking a bit. But we do like to play with two strikers up front.” Alternatives such as Can Uzun or Ansgar Knauff have a different profile, with Uzun better suited to midfield and Knauff “more dangerous on the wing and also more comfortable there”.
Toppmöller is also aware that “it’s not that easy for the player. It happened so quickly, he’s only been training with us for two days. We still wanted to make him feel like an important player. He’ll be a great asset to us in the future.”
